Suggested Statements of Concern

I had the privilege once again this year of receiving a letter from the Statements of Concern Committee of ABCUSA with the invitation to submit my ideas for such statements for the 2009 Biennial in Pasadena. Below are my suggestions:
1. Evangelizing Jihadi Terrorists
2. The expression of religious faith in American politics
3. The marginalizing of the doctrine of biblical authority in ABCUSA
4. Prime time television's sexual contents
5. Transforming character through faith in Christ - Real or Imagined?
I suspect that even if you did not receive a letter asking for your input, the Committee would welcome your ideas for statements. They must be received by Karen Drummond by December 1, 2007. Send them to her and the Committee at
National Ministries
American Baptist Churches USA
P.O. Box 851
Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851

Washington Biennial Diappointing

The music at the Friday and Saturday sessions of the '07 Biennial that I attended was wonderful. It ranged from good to terrific to occasionally spectacular. Kudos to the committee that brought together such diverse and wonderful spiritual talent. Amen.

Sadly, the rest of the Friday plenary session fell flat. I didn't expect a strong conservative flavor to pronouncements and preaching. I didn't even expect a strong evangelical flavor, so, as conservative as I am, that's not what was disappointing.

This was the 100th Anniversary of ABCUSA (a.k.a. Northern Baptists), and the Friday night Evening Gathering was held in conjunction with two allies (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.) , but sadly it fell flat. There was no sense of traditional Baptist worship. There was little inspiration. No sermon took place. At the premier event of a Baptist meeting there was no preaching. It was replaced with a light weight Regis & Kelly type conversation in which the three execs of the three groups told us how wonderful the groups are, but it was not, to my mind, an acceptable replacement for Baptists being gathered together under the preaching of the Word. This was followed by communion by "intinction." Now Baptists are not familiar with intinction for the most part. Intinction is defined as steeping or dipping a wafer into the grape juice so the communicant can receive both elements. Of course, the communicant comes forward from his/her seat to line up and receive the elements. This created a traffic problem that was not conducive to spiritual sensitivity, and gave a sense of just going through the motions there in the Convention Center. It seems obvious to me that with three Baptists groups meeting together the traditional Baptist style of passing plates of matzo pieces (or bread pieces) and passing trays of communion cups would have worked better even with the large crowd that evening. It certainly would have been more conducive to making the communion service a more intensely "religious" experience. I'm sure the Baptist churches of the D.C. Convention and area would have been happy to provide Deacons and Deaconesses and Communion Services for such an event, and I am sure it would have made for a more smooth and worshipful communion. Intinction probably works much better in small groups, but it was not effective for ABC on Friday.

As I said, the music was great. So it was not a total loss.

Most national biennials I've attended, have left me inspired by the good things the denomination has done and is involved in. This one, despite some good speakers, seemed flat, and that is too bad since we were celebrating 100 years of ministry as a "Convention."
God bless ABC. God revive ABC. God bring ABC back to giving absolute authority to the Word of God.

Devotions

..."the white linen is the righteous conduct of the saints"...
Revelation 19:8b (Moffatt translation)

Ruth Graham "Gone Home"

Billy Graham, like other Christians who believe the Bible is God's Word, sorrows, now that he has lost his loving Ruth, but not as others who have no hope. He expresses the sincere conviction that he expects to see her again in the presence of the Lord.

He and Ruth, college sweet hearts, have been faithful to each other; have worked alongside of one another; have together raised their children to love Christ. They are a wonderful example of Christian married life, and Billy's faith is as apparent and real now, in their separation, as it has been real in all aspects of his ministry.

He is a trophy of grace, a testimony of grace, and a receiver of grace sufficient for him in this day of loss. Would that all of us, Christians, were such picture illustrations of what God can do in a man or woman totally committed to Jesus Christ, our savior and Lord.

May the memory of Ruth's life glorify God.

May Billy continue in grace.

The Prophet's Voice

Where is the voice of the prophet in ABCUSA? Our denomination has always prided itself on having a prophetic voice, of speaking truth to power. Our current GS was selected, among other things, of course, to be a prophetic voice.

So what is a prophetic voice? Some in ABC think it’s a voice that criticizes the U.S. government, or other forms of what it calls power in the U.S., with challenges to the status quo, traditional policy, or historic morality. And, yes, sometimes that voice is a prophetic voice, if the status quo or other object of attack is sinful. But the prophetic voice, if it is modeled on the prophetic voices of the Bible, also includes speaking about the unrighteous personal sin that an individual may have in his/her life, or the sin of the people of God corporately.

Example: Jeremiah 7:8-10

8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Jeremiah brought this prophetic voice to the nation Judah. I guess no ABC person would argue that the list of sins God excoriates in this message are things that are O.K. for believers to engage in today, that a new historical understanding of the situation in Judah in those days actually allows us to declare, as the Judahites did, that they were allowed to do those things. At least, I hope no ABC persons would make such an argument. I guess no ABC person would start a W&A group for those sins (at least I hope not). But those who did those sins said “We are delivered to do all these abominations.” Somehow this does sound familiar doesn’t it?

Christ died for the sins of others. He did not approve them. Could it be the prophetic voice is telling us that it might be that the ABCUSA, as a body, must die for the sins of those who endorse and do things defined as sin by scripture? Though tears would be shed, it would be a proper funeral for “we sorrow not as others who have no hope,” and Bible believing and obeying Christians would find resurrection in other churches that survive the late ABCUSA.

ABCUSA like Jesus?

Why did Jesus criticize the doctrines and behaviors of the Pharisees? They and He were of the same religion. Some believe that Jesus was of the sect of the Pharisees, one of the boys (so to speak). So why was He often publicly in disagreement with their views? Why didn’t He just overlook their “slant” on things? Live and let live?

The simple answer is that they had gotten it wrong, and it was important for people to know that.

The denomination doesn’t seem to get it. Some things are right, some are wrong. Some match up with the scriptures, and some don’t. And if some things don’t match up, it is important for Bible believers to express that fact. It is important to point out the fact that those who reject the scriptures have got it wrong. ABC leaders should emulate Jesus and be making the case about unbiblical behaviors being wrong.

Jerry Falwell, A Faithful Servant

Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) was called to his heavenly home May 15, 2007

The U.S. public will probably remember Jerry Falwell, primarily for his amazing galvanization of conservative Christians into a significant voting block in American politics after decades in which the evangelical church had stayed behind closed doors and avoided any entanglement with what it thought of as the dirty world of politics. Leading the Moral Majority and calling Christians to exercise responsibility for a government elected by the people and for the people Falwell believed, and I think probably correctly, that these evangelical voters were directly responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan and the conservative revolution that followed. His political legacy is historic.

I’m sure that he would rather be remembered for another area of his ministry. Jerry’s ministry has shown that the biblical message of Christ reaches the heart of any people who are earnestly seeking to know the God of creation. Beginning as an Independent Fundamentalist minister Jerry built a congregation in Thomas Road Baptist Church that is reported to have reached over 22,000. His message could probably be simplistically summarized by Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

His work stretched beyond the pulpit and the voting booth to Education and other social activism. Liberty University with over 7,000 students and significant respectability in both academics and sports is just one of the schools he founded. The others were Christian elementary schools. But education wasn’t the extent of his social outreach. A strong opponent of abortion (I was moved years ago while visiting the Liberty campus, on a trip through Lynchburg to Roanoke, when I saw the memorial for unborn children who had been terminated by abortion that is on the campus), Jerry was not content to merely condemn the practice, but he stepped up and founded homes for unwed mothers where young women could find help to get through their pregnancy without the need to allow or cause the death of the child they carried. He founded a home for those who had become alcoholics, as well. He even stepped out of the Independent Baptist mode of ministry in which he started and in the end associated his ministry with the Southern Baptist Convention, something the large majority of Independent Fundamentalists can barely imagine much less do.

Despite the caricature that his liberal religious and political opponents propagated about him Jerry was smart, consistently gracious, decent, honorable and honest. He handled himself well in t.v. interviews and debates even with those who relentlessly attempted to make him look bad. It was hard to do, because Jerry was a good man. Whether you liked him or not, agreed with him or not, applauded his success or not, an honest evaluation is that Jerry was a good man.

He would be the first to tell you that all of his positive achievements could not get him into heaven, only faith in Jesus Christ as personal savior does that, and he would invite you here and now to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Thank you, Jerry, you did well.

A Lesson From Baptist History

Norman Maring, in his book “Baptists in New Jersey” (p. 252) reports that in 1895 a church in the West New Jersey Association was “excluded” (i.e. disfellowshipped) from the Association. The reason? The congregation failed to dismiss a pastor who was guilty of immoral behavior. Dr. Maring does not specify the sin involved. The church was readmitted to the Association after it had taken action and then requested reentry.

What gave the Baptists who made up that Association the idea that they could discipline one of the Association churches? Didn’t they believe in local autonomy? Of course, they did, but they understood that obedience to God’s Word is a higher value in Baptist church life than is an independence that allows for defiance of the Bible’s directives.

They believed that the moral teaching of Scripture and the associational requirement that the church be in conformity to scriptural instruction superseded the church’s right to do anything it wanted to do.

As I said, Dr. Maring does not tell us what the immoral behavior was, but the Association apparently believed it to be something clearly declared in Scripture to be sin, and thus unacceptable to an Association of Churches naming the name of Jesus Christ, and therefore something not available to the local church no matter how free of ecclesiastical control the church felt itself to be.

Well, so what? Who cares about what Baptists did way back then? That was over 100 years ago. ABCUSA should care. All of its Regions should care. This is Baptist tradition. Those who profess that Baptist Principles do not support associational or denominational discipline of churches violating the teaching of the Bible are just wrong, or not students of Baptist history, or something.

Tension

The current debate among some ABCers with some expressing the view that there is no accountability for believing the Bible on the part of the local church under the authority of the family body (denomination or Association) does not deal with the issues in a fulsome way. Let me add my opinion via an article I wrote back in 2001.

THE AUTONOMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH

AND THE ASSOCIATIONAL PRINCIPLE

TOGETHER IN TENSION

Dr. Lewis W. Kisenwether, Jr.

© 2001

The autonomy of the local church is a principle held in tension.

On a singular basis, that is when a church congregation stands alone as an independent congregation without associational or denominational ties, there are no limits to its autonomous freedom to act as it’s people direct, except as that freedom is itself limited by what God’s revelation in the Scriptures says and teaches. Thus, while a church is free to paint its building any color imaginable, locate in any desired community, establish culturized rules of membership, and innumerable other actions for which there is no scriptural teaching for or against, that same congregation has no right, no freedom, no autonomy to disregard the teaching of Scripture and announce as righteous, approve and/or promote a behavior declared sinful by the Word of God. The autonomy of the congregation is held in tension with the higher authority of God’s Word.

When a local congregation becomes associational and joins a Baptist fellowship of churches (Association or denomination) the autonomy is then held in an additional tension. All churches within the Association, by common consent and profession of belief in the Christian God, are constrained by the teaching of the Word of God, the Bible, and each individual church is then additionally constrained by its responsibility to her sister churches to be faithful to that revealed truth.

Therefore, an action by any church which is in opposition to the teaching of the Scripture is not only theologically inappropriate, but an injury to the family of churches so associated. Such action creates spiritual harm within the fellowship of churches, not the least of which are disharmony and broken fellowship. An appeal to local autonomy, in such a case, has no force if the church wishes to remain in association, because the congregation has both a stated and implied responsibility to be faithful to her brothers and sisters in Christ by being faithful to the Scripture’s demands.

If said congregation does not wish to be in willing subjection to God through His revelation, and does not wish to fulfill its associational responsibility to the churches of the Association to follow the teaching of the Bible, it has only one option if it is to act in integrity, and, that is to voluntarily disassociate {withdraw} from the Association. This act, while honorable and to be commended, does not remove the congregation’s responsibility, even as an independent church, to believe and behave as the scriptures require. With such withdrawal the Association’s official union with and responsibity for that church ceases. It is hoped that pastors, congregations, and individuals will hold the door of koinonia {friendship} and metanoia {repentance} open to the departed brothers and sisters.

When a congregation fails to return to apparent overt acceptance of the teaching of the Bible, and does not take the reasonable action of withdrawing from the Association, it is incumbent upon the churches of that fellowship at large to state the Association’s candid objection to unbiblical pronouncements and activities, and to discipline the offending church body.

Not Intentionally

This blog, Baptistthinking.blogspot.com, replaces DrLewKblog.blogspot.com, which I somehow lost because of my own lack of understanding of the internet, blog pages, etc. I plan to continue commenting, in a spirit of grace, mercy, and love based upon biblical truth, on issues concerning the American Baptist Churches in the USA, and occasionally other Baptists, as well. I've been an ABC pastor and occasionally a Region and Association representative or leader for more than three and a half decades, and remain so. To some that length of service will make me a dinosaur, though by God's grace I don't feel paleolithic. So consider what I have to say, if you will, but, more importantly, follow God's Word above all else because that's really where IT is at.

For this first entry I will simply note that just as I somehow, not intentionally, lost my blog, the ABCUSA has lost the foundation upon which it should be standing. Right now it's floating in a sea of relativism. To be stable and safe it needs to find a way to stand on the Rock.